Lanayru Mining Facility walkthrough – Zelda: Skyward Sword HD guide (2024)

After a lot of exploration and some minor time travel in The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD’s Lanayru Desert, you’ll uncover the Lanayru Mining Facility.

In this Skyward Sword HD Lanayru Mining Facility walkthrough, we’ll guide you through the dungeon with tips on finding items, rupees, Goddess Cubes, and collectibles and completing every quest and side quest. We’ll walk you through the dungeon to find the Small Key, Dungeon Map, and the new tool — the Gust Bellows — you’ll need to complete the dungeon. At the end, we’ll help you defeat this area’s boss, the Thousand-Year Arachnid Modarach.

Table of contents

• Small Key 1
• Conveyor belts
• Gust Bellows
• Dungeon Map
• Ancient Circuit
• Thousand-Year Arachnid Moldarach boss fight
• Phase 1
• Phase 2
• Temple of Time

Small Key 1

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Inside the Lanayru Mining Facility, save at the bird statue at the bottom of the stairs.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Starting on the right side of the room, take out the Electro Spume and the new, scorpion-like Archas. Run along the right wall to the north and pull the the switch.

This unlocks a gate along the right wall. Head back to find a chest with a red rupee.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

On the left side of the room, bomb the two statues to knock them down, and then clear out all the enemies. Sprint across the sinksand and pull the switch.

This opens the gate to the next room.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Deal with the two Staldras, and head all the way to the north.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

On the left side, push one of the boxes to the right so you can climb up to the next door. Exit into the next room and save at the bird statue.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Turn right from the bird statue.

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Use your Hook Beetle to bomb the wooden crates in the corner of the room. Run over and jump across the gap. Climb the ladder and open the chest for the first Small Key.

Conveyor belts

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Take the small key back to the south. Use it to unlock the door on the eastern wall.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Inside, turn left and follow the path to the deactivated conveyor belt.

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You’ll run into a new enemy, the floating pufferfish-like Froak. Cross to the right on the conveyor belt, clear the Aracha off the wall, and climb up.

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Turn right. There’s a ladder ahead of you, but the top is blocked. Look along the western wall near the northwest corner for a bomb on a pedestal. Use the Hook Beetle to grab it, and bomb the box blocking your way.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Climb up the ladder, and stand on the switch.

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Fly the Beetle into the Timeshift Crystal. Drop back down the ladder.

You’ll run into a new (old) enemy here, a Beamos. You cannot attack them while they’re firing their eye beams, so just lock on and circle. When they’re looking or just not firing, hit the base with a horizontal slash (along the blue line) and then jab forward into their eye to destroy them.

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Continue east along the wall. You’ll cross a couple belts and come to another ladder. Climb up and pull the switch to open a gate on the other side.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Drop down and sprint along the conveyor belt heading north — dodge the ore and pick up the stamina boosts. At the end, turn left and climb the ladder. Open the chest you unlocked for a red rupee.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Head east to the northeast corner of the room. Dash along the conveyor belt heading south. Turn right at the end.

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Handle the double-tall Beamos, and then pull the switch on the wall.

Ride the conveyor belt back to the north and head through the door.

Gust Bellows

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Turn right and climb the ladder in the southeast corner. You’ll want to stay on top of the blocks in this room for now, and if you ever fall, this ladder is your way back up.

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Jump north. Hit the Froak into the pile of rocks on the next block north to destroy them (or throw a bomb).

Hop across and turn left. Jump forward, right, and left again. Climb the ladder, and open the chest to find the Gust Bellows.

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This item lets you blow air to sweep away those piles of dust and sand, or to direct the Froaks into walls. Use the Gust Bellows on the sand piles you pass for a lot of rupees and hearts.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Climb back down, and hop one block south, and one block west. Blow up the pile of rocks, hop one more block west, and then jump to the larger platform with a ladder along the west wall.

Before you climb out, though, shove the metal box off the platform. This gives you a way back up without having to climb the first ladder.

Sweep (literally) the room to collect all the treasures from the sand piles. There’s a chest in the northwest corner with a Goddess Plume, and an oversized pile of sand in the southwest with an Amber Relic.

When you’re satisfied, climb the ladder on the western wall.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

In the next room — the large room where you found Small Key 1 — shove the metal box out of the way and climb down the next two ladders.

Hit the bird statue on your way past and exit through he door to the south.

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Drop off the platform to the left (east), and clear out the dust and Arachas in the northeast corner. You’ll free the crate and expose a switch. Shove the block onto the switch, and head through the door to the west.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Use the platforms to head west, south, and then north until you reach the southeast corner of the room — the one with the giant pile of sand.

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Clear the sand to reveal a Timeshift Stone. Hit it.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Hop onto the floating platform, and use the Gust Bellows to spin the fan counterclockwise. That will move the platform west.

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Hop off, and point the Bellows at the pinwheel above the gate to open it.

Step through, and deal with the double-tall Beamos. Drop down the ladder on your right.

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There’s a patrolling Sentrobe here. There are three steps to taking it out.

• Get its attention, and then Shield Bash its missile back at it.
• It’ll deploy two smaller orbs. Slice through them along their blue lines.
• Shield Bash the second missile back at it to finish it off.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Use the Gust Bellows to move the platform along its rail until you can jump on. Ride it the rest of the way to the east.

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Climb up the wall and open the chest for a Monster Horn.

Drop back down and ride the same platform all the way west until you hit the wall. Turn right and hop to the other side of the room.

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Climb the ladder and dispatch the Beamos. Point the Bellows at the pinwheel on the wall to open your way out.

Head through the door to the north.

Dungeon Map

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Take out the two Staldras, and then clear all the dust in this room.

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Slide the metal crate along its groove until you can climb up onto the platform to the north.

Turn left and hop back along the blocks to pick up an Amber Relic in the southwest corner.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Back at the gate to the north, clear the dust to reveal a Timeshift Stone. Slingshot it to activate it.

This restores an Armos down on the lower floor.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Drop down. Target the Armos, and use the Gust Bellows on the fan on top of its head. When you spin it enough, it’ll pause and expose two crystals.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Keep spinning its fan and attacking the crystals until you destroy them both.

Head back to the chest in the north to pick up the Dungeon Map.

Exit through the door the Armos was guarding.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Walk forward and clear the sand away. Step onto the floor switch to open the gate and unlock a shortcut back to the bird statue.

Stand at the edge of the sinksand facing north and open your map. There are hidden walkways under the quicksand.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Follow the hidden path north and then west to the first safe islands. Clear the sand on both, and you’ll uncover a tunnel. Climb in, and follow it to the end to find a chest with a Blue Bird Feather inside. Clear the sand piles to pick up another Amber Relic as well.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Head back to the sinksand. Follow the buried paths to the north, clearing sand piles as you go. There’s another tunnel along the western wall, but before you climb inside, continue all the way to the north. Clear the last few sand piles for another Amber Relic.

Climb into that tunnel. You’ll turn left, right, take the second right, left, right, right and left to get through.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

The next room is filled with sand.

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Your job is to clear almost all of it away. You’ll uncover spike traps as you go. Navigate the trap-maze until you uncover a chest (with a red rupee) in the northwest and a switch along the west side of the room.

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Step on the switch to open the gate blocking the door out. Navigate to the stairs, climb up, and exit this room.

Ancient Circuit

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Clear the sand after you step through the door, and activate the Timeshift Stone in the mine cart you expose.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

The cart will start moving automatically. Follow it, and take out the Sentrobe that reactivates.

Use the Bellows on the pinwheel gate, and keep following the mine cart.

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Use the cart for cover as you pass a Beamos on the left. Once it’s out of the Timeshift Stone’s influence, hide behind the cart as runs into a second, taller Beamos.

Chop this one down and destroy it.

Stay on the left side of the cart for cover as it continues forward and completes its journey.

Bellows the pinwheel gate to unlock a shortcut back to the bird statue.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Turn left from the gate and cross to the east. Clear the sand to find another mine cart carrying a Timeshift Stone. Activate it.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Follow along on the left. Use the Bellows on the pinwheel on the wall as you pass. When the cart comes to a stop, hit the Timeshift Stone twice — once to deactivate it, and again to reactivate it.

Follow it back to the door you just unblocked and head through.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Cross the deactivated conveyor belt to the east and clear the Archas off the wall.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

You have to climb this wall while avoiding the blasts of air (steam?) from the pipes. Wait on the left side of the wall until you can climb up and past the first blast of air. Don’t climb quite all the way up, though.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Work your way across to the right. Wait out the uppermost blast, and then climb the rest of the way up.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Turn right and look at the statues along the southern wall.

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Bomb each one and hop across until you reach the far side.

Clear the sand to reveal a big Timeshift Stone. Activate it.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Hop back across the statues heading east and deal with the tall Beamos.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

Dash across the conveyor belts heading north and throw the switch on the wall. This will call a platform to you. Ride it all the way to the west.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Bomb the three statues along the wall.

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The images behind them reveal a code — 2, 3, 1 — we’ll use in a second.

Use the Bellows to move the platform in the center of the room as far south as you can. Jump across to it, and ride it all the way north.

Shove the block out of the way of the ladder. This is a way for you to get back up in case you fall during the next section.

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In the northeast corner of the room, climb onto the platform. Use it to bomb the three statues along the eastern wall. This will reveal three purple crystals. You have to hit them in the order indicated by the icons behind the statues to the west.

Hop to the floating (stationary) platform across from the middle crystal and pull out your Slingshot (or your Beetle).

• Hit the northernmost crystal first
• Hit the southernmost crystal second
• Hit the middle crystal last

Ride the platform back to the north and head through the door you just opened.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

There are two Armos in the next room.

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Try to stick against the left and right wall while you take them out one at a time. You can see their triggering range as arcs of tile on the ground.

Once they’re both defeated, open the chest for the Ancient Circuit.

Graphic: Jeffrey Parkin | Sources: Nintendo via Polygon

Drop down to the conveyor belt in the center of the room and sprint across to the west. Head through the door there.

Turn right, and climb the stairs to the bird statue.

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Hit the Timeshift Stone in the mine cart. This time, you can’t follow next to the cart. Instead, hop onto the platform to the left. Use the Bellows to keep pace with the mine cart until you reach the door. (There’s a more convenient bird statue in the northwest corner if you want to save again.)

Place the Ancient Circuit in the lock.

Thousand-Year Arachnid Moldarach boss fight

As you enter the next room, the floor is covered in deep sand. After a quick cutscene, you’ll meet the giant (and surprisingly scary) scorpion-like Moldarach.

Phase 1

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For the first part of the fight, Moldarach will chase you around the room. Your job is to target the eyeballs in his claws and hit them. You’ll have to adjust the direction of your swing so you don’t hit the claws themselves.

Focus on one claw at a time, and keep swinging until it explodes. Then switch to the other.

Phase 2

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For the second part of the fight, Moldarach will dive under the sand. Use the Gust Bellows to clear sand away and expose Moldarach — just look for the giant lump moving under the sand.

Image: Nintendo via Polygon

When it pops up, get in close and stab it in the eye.

Do this a few more times to finish the fight.

Collect your Heart Container as a reward.

Temple of Time

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This time, you won't head straight to the exit — you’ve still got one more puzzle. In the next room, face left. Fly your Beetle along the ceiling to find a Timeshift Stone. Hit it, and then ride the cart out.

After a long cutscene, you’ll find yourself in the Temple of Time. You’ll have the Goddess’s Harp and a new (old) destination, the Sealed Grounds.